


Fondness

by WahlBuilder



Series: Scarves and Mittens [8]
Category: Mars: War Logs
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Gift Giving, Mentions of Violence, Pre-Game(s), mentions of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 05:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8956738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WahlBuilder/pseuds/WahlBuilder
Summary: Roy is being in the care of his favorite headhunter and overthinking everything again, and Tenacity surprises him with a gift.





	

Roy let out a long string of expletives and punched the generator, then slid to the floor and rubbed his face with both hands. His stubble caught on the old burns on his palms, and he winced. It was getting colder, and Roy couldn’t fix the heating generator no matter how he tried. The damn thing was completely fried and rusted, cables crumbling under his fingers. And no heating meant no hot water either.

Actually, no water at all, since officially, nobody was occupying this sorry excuse for a housing and therefore no water should have been flowing here. The vast, dusted rooms that served as a temporary sanctuary for Roy actually had been parts of two houses once. They were mostly bare walls, with the exception of an alcove in one of the rooms that now contained a few bedrolls. Every piece of furniture, every spare wire, everything that could be used or sold had been scavenged long time ago. Roy had wondered only how the walls themselves had survived.

Probably Tenacity’s reputation was holding them together, working like a ward.

It was _his_ neighborhood.

A dozen or so of shacks, stripped bare to the bones of their basic structure belonged to Tenacity—literally, because he had paid for them. He used this lair to hide the clients who paid him for such protection, he kept his things here, he dropped by from time to time to resupply or lick his wounds.

No expensive facilities here on the outskirts of Abundance, nothing fancy like that, but the shacks had heating, a water pump in the backyard of one of them—illegal, of course,—a set of kennels inside one of the biggest “houses”, and who knows how many stashes with ammo for Tenacity’s weird abomination of a weapon.

And currently, Roy was the only occupant of the whole place.

The last gig he had landed, had ended in a spectacular mess: the caravan that Roy and a dozen of other hirelings had been guarding, had been run over by a gang of thugs, raving mad and cannibalistic. It’s amazing how much damage a few scrawny guys could do even unarmed if they were fanatical enough to not feel pain.

Nails couldn’t stop them.

Roy could have used his Technomancy, but that would have meant that the other guards would have shot him on the spot. During the peaceful part of the journey he had heard what dirt they said about all Technomancers.

So Roy had run and took shelter in a cave, retching from the glimpsed scene of one of the thugs biting into the shoulder of his still screaming prey then slicing the man’s belly with a rusty blade.

Tenacity had found Roy the next morning. Well, Tenacity’s hounds had found the carnage, and then they had sniffed Roy.

So that’s how Roy had ended up in Tenacity’s care—again—and in a place that was calm and quiet and where he couldn’t be disturbed.

Though now he would freeze to death.

Roy hugged himself, shaking mostly from displaced anger than from the cold. Tenacity hadn’t been seen for three days, and Roy couldn’t stand the quiet in his head any longer.

He jumped right out of his skin at the clang of metal, and grabbed for the wrench, but the clang was too heavy, too… artificial. As if the guest wanted to be heard. Still, Roy scrambled to his legs. He wasn’t sure he was sane and strong enough to hold back the Technomancy, but he was not going to just give himself into anyone’s hands.

The door slid to the side, and the bulky silhouette blocked the daylight for a moment. “Hey, Roy!”

The wrench fell out of Roy’s hands and landed on the floor with a heavy clang. He rubbed his face again. “Hey, Tenacity.” His knees felt weak, and he was seriously ready to throw himself at the man’s neck. So he occupied himself with rubbing his own face furiously—until his hands were caught by Tenacity’s paws and tugged away.

The gray-blue eyes were full of concern, and Roy hated himself for showing weakness. Especially showing it in front of Tenacity.

Tenacity smiled. “You look terrible.”

“Oh, thank you, my handsome friend, you are most kind tonight. Or today.” Roy shook his head. “I’ve no idea what time it is. The heating’s dead. I’m half-way dead, too.” He turned to the generator, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to reanimate it, but he couldn’t stay idle anymore.

The silence was very bad. Roy turned back to Tenacity.

The gray-blue eyes were hard as fine steel. “Don’t ever joke about your own death.”

Roy watched him for a few seconds longer. He didn’t know what to do when Tenacity was like this, too damn serious. “I’m sorry,” Roy said after a moment of silence. What else could he say? A dozen of weeks ago he had been drinking himself into oblivion in the back end of Mars, bored and exhausted beyond measure. The headhunter had located him again—he seemed to have a knack for tracking Roy. He had shaken Roy out of his gloomy mood. Made him sing a few songs.

Roy didn’t understand any of it.

What use was he to the headhunter? If Tenacity had wanted to sold him out to the Source, he would have done it long time ago. Exactly on the first night they had met. There was a possibility that Tenacity was keeping an eye on him to use him as a bribe in case of problems with the Technomancers.

Tenacity shook his red mane, so much like those of his hounds, and emerged with a smile. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out something wrapped in a washed out cloth. It was held together by a simple cut of string. Roy hoped it contained some circuitry. Otherwise Tenacity wouldn’t have wrapped it so neatly, wouldn’t he?

“Come on, what do you have there?”

Tenacity beamed and shoved the package into Roy’s hands. It was lighter than Roy had expected.

“Open it. It’s a present.”

Roy almost snorted, but Tenacity sounded so full of quiet joy and it didn’t sound like a joke or a tease. Roy eyed. He pulled at the small bow on the string and unwrapped it. The cloth was crispy and very clean.

Inside were mittens. They were not leather, no, not even the fine leather from the worms. They were textile. Woven from some plant fiber. Roy slid one hand inside. It was padded with fine fur, though Roy couldn’t determine its origins. The mittens were just perfect for his hands.

He couldn’t even imagine how much they cost.

“Are you nuts?” He looked up at Tenacity, fully intending to return the gift—and mentally punched himself at the expression on Tenacity’s face, confusion and hurt.

For a few heartbeats, both of them were absolutely still.

Outside, the water pump gurgled.

Roy shook his head and tightened his grip on the mittens, lowering his eyes. “Shit, Tenacity, I’m... I’m sorry.” It was not something Tenacity had picked up just because. He had chosen them, guessed and found the right size. And Roy hurt him. Tenacity had come excited to give Roy this precious gift—and Roy had been wondering whether Tenacity might be planning to sell him out. Roy had single-handedly destroyed the only friendship he had ever had.

“I didn’t mean to yell. It’s that they seem to be terribly expensive and I—"

“The best headhunter on this red rock, remember?”

Roy looked up at Tenacity again. He wasn’t ready to see the broad smile and warmth in the gray-blue eyes. As if Roy hadn’t just insulted him.

Tenacity gestured at the mittens that Roy was still holding. “I can afford it, Roy. Take them. I don’t want you to freeze your wonderful hands off. Now...” He patted his thighs. “Let’s see what we can do about that generator. I think I can find us a replacement. Don’t want you to catch a cold while you’re here, though it sure would be nice to have you snuggle with me.” Tanicyt beamed again. “But I need to move the generator outside.” The headhunter shouldered past Roy to the offending piece of technology and reached out, but Roy hastened to stop him, gripping his arm.

“No, don’t. It might still have some residual charge. Let me.”

And he put the other mitten on.


End file.
